Carmax trip report

[Dan Druff]

I have a car to sell, so I figured I would see what Carmax would offer. I didn't expect them to give me the best possible price, but the car is old and has a ton of miles on it, so I wasn't sure how much of a market there would be for it. It was really more of a curiosity thing than anything else.

Carmax's commercials tell you to "Start here" when selling your car -- basically to let them give you an estimate first and then go from there. In a way, they're offering to be your price guinea pig.

The blue book value of my car which is 11 years old, is about $6700. Last year the blue book was about $7500 (with less mileage), and I tried to sell it. I got a cold response from people, mostly assholes who wanted to lowball me. I decided to hang onto it for a bit longer.

Due to the cold response at the blue book price last year, I thought I might as well give Carmax a shot. I was also always curious about their operation.

First, I tried to get an appointment there to get my car appraised. I was told that the process takes approximately 40 minutes, including a 1-mile test drive and a "5-10 minute inspection". This already made me think I was going to get lowballed, as there's little they can ascertain in 5-10 minutes, so obviously you can slip mechanical problems by them. So I figured that had to be built into the price.

They could not give me a same-day appoitnment. I was told that the wait was about "15 minutes", so I came down there.

By the time I got to Carmax, the wait had grown to 25-30 minutes. I told them, "Okay, I will go to the AT&T store next door, and I'll be back shortly."

"You can't do that," says the scheduling guy.

"What?? I'm not allowed to leave?"

"Nope. It is required that you stay on premises the entire time while waiting," he coldly responded.

I felt like I was back in high school and dealing with the campus monitor.

"So why can't I leave during this wait?", I asked.

He gave a convoluted answer. "Our appraisers are paid by the hour, so we can't have them waiting around for you. Therefore, it isn't fair to them that you leave and have problems with you not being here when they call you."

"Ummm...okay," I responded. "But why can't they just cancel my place in line if I'm not here when they call me? How does that waste anyone's time?"

He didn't have an answer for that.

"Yeah, I'm gonna leave now and I'll be back in about 15," I said. "If you call me before I get back, I guess I just won't be selling my car to you."

I already felt that this place was geared towards idiots.

I left for 15 minutes, and returned.

I was told at that point that it would be "10-15 minutes", as expected. However, time kept passing, and they weren't calling me. The wait ended up being 50 minutes, and I was about 2 minutes away from raising an issue with the false 25-30 figure they gave me (along with stringing me along every 10 minutes telling me that I will get called 'any second now').

The associate took a bunch of information about me, my car, etc. Then they brought out a second guy to do a test drive with me and inspect a car.

After about another 15 minutes waiting, the first guy called me back over with his conclusions.

"Paint looks good"

"Title is clean"

"Car still runs well"

Basically every test was "passed". There were no factors they noticed that would degrade the value of the car. I would be getting the standard offer for this car's age and mileage, without any reduction.

Then came the time for the price.

To bring artificial suspense into the situation, he paused before clicking to the final screen.

"And the offer we're making to purchase your car iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiisssss........."

(Click)

 

$3000

I knew I would be lowballed, but this was ridiculous.

What a joke.

They were offering me less than 45% of the blue book value!

Just to see if the blue book price was way off, I put an ad out for $5500 and was mobbed with responses.

Conclusion: When you have a car to sell, don't "start here" with Carmax unless you enjoy wasting your time.

Apparently they cater to both the lazy and the clueless. They will give you a same-day cashier's check if you agree to sell it to them, so I bet that appeals to idiots who don't realize they can get same-day cash from private parties if you advertise for a low enough price.

[NaturalBornHustler]

Druff they can't put your old clunker with prob 100k miles on lot to sell. I know for a fact they give very good prices on later model cars with reasonably low miles. And you aren't getting KBB book value in this economy. Real world 5500 is probably more accurate, so they offered you a number so they could make some money too. Imagine that.

[vegas1369]

As far as Blue Book... $6,700 Trade in Value or Retail?

[Dan Druff]

As far as Blue Book... $6,700 Trade in Value or Retail?

$6700 private party. Trade ins are for chumps.

NBH, I wasn't expecting Carmax to give me the blue book value, or even the value I could likely get private party. However, $3000 when it will EASILY sell for $5500 (and probably more) is a joke. That's not profit. That's highway robbery.

[Dan Druff]

But they did tell me they were going to sell it at a wholesale auction, so maybe that's the reason. All I know is they lowballed me by about half.

[NaturalBornHustler]

But they did tell me they were going to sell it at a wholesale auction, so maybe that's the reason. All I know is they lowballed me by about half.

That is exactly why. They don't sell cheap ass old cars like that with high miles, it would go right to auction. If you went to a smaller, independent place that would put it on the lot they would give you more.

[Dan Druff]

BTW, unrelated, but I am hearing that new car sales are trending toward a no-haggle model, and we might see the end of being able to negotiate in the coming years.

That would suck.

This is likely because of the internet, making both invoice price easily available and the existence of tools which allow you to submit your requests to several dealers at once and see who gives the best price.

Those tools aren't the best way to do it, but still, it's cutting into the bottom line big time compared to the pre-internet days.

[FNdonkey]

As soon as I read the 3rd paragraph I knew exactly what you would be offered.

[Krypt]

I got a cold response from people, mostly assholes who wanted to lowball me. I decided to hang onto it for a bit longer.

Nigga, this is YOU.

[4Dragons]

But they did tell me they were going to sell it at a wholesale auction, so maybe that's the reason. All I know is they lowballed me by about half.

I saw a show on a business like this on CNBC's "The Profit", where they do this same car buying scheme. To me when you said that it was 6k bluebook, I knew immediately that they would offer half that. You see, Carmax buys your car at half bluebook and sells it for.... wait for it... Bluebook value.

It's basically like watching Pawn Stars. Dipshits go in there trying to get the full value for their coin collection when they don't understand that they are trying to sell to a wholesaler. If it's appraised at $1k for your coin collection, Pawn Stars will offer you 45% of the value and then sell it for the asking price.

It's not bad that Carmax did that, it is pretty bad that you didn't know that is how it works.

[FNdonkey]

It's not bad that Carmax did that, it is pretty bad that you didn't know that is how it works.

The first thing that entered my head was what the hell did you think they were going to offer?!

[vegas1369]

A car salesman once told me "you are always going to get fucked when buying a car, it's just a question of how much lube are we going to use on you when you buy it".

I've bought three trucks off of that guy since that day.

[mwh72]

A car salesman once told me "you are always going to get fucked when buying a car, it's just a question of how much lube are we going to use on you when you buy it".

I've bought three trucks off of that guy since that day.

That's a lot of lube.

[PLOL]

Can you ask Iceman for a Carmex trip report?

 

[Sanlmar]

Bought a car recently for the wife. Toyota. I played the role of the disinterested husband. Not a tough act.

I spent a lot of time chatting with the salespeople. A lot of them were very young. They didn't make shit. My memory is sometimes $100 per unit. It is almost a minimum wage gig for most.

I guess the bonuses at end of month are another story.

Just after this car shopping I listened to This American Life - The Car Lot

Jeep Dealership in Levittown Ny. They spend a month with the salesmen. You get to know each one & the pressure they live under.

https://soundcloud.com/this-american-life/513-129-cars

As always, great storytelling. Gets better as story gets deeper.

Take it for a test drive.

[Sanlmar]

Can you ask Iceman for a Carmex trip report?

 

Don't casinos take your license/ID when they print the players card?

His legal name is Iceman?

Fantastic.

You ever consider changing your legal name PLOP?

[PLOL]

They use your ID, but if you tell them to put something else down most places will

[anonamoose]

BTW, unrelated, but I am hearing that new car sales are trending toward a no-haggle model, and we might see the end of being able to negotiate in the coming years.

That would suck.

This is likely because of the internet, making both invoice price easily available and the existence of tools which allow you to submit your requests to several dealers at once and see who gives the best price.

Those tools aren't the best way to do it, but still, it's cutting into the bottom line big time compared to the pre-internet days.

truecar.com

tells you how much people are paying for a given car nationally and locally. will then compare local dealers to those averages and show you which ones are selling the it the cheapest. you print out a thing and they honor the price.

[unchainedghost]

You shopping for a another BMW druff or is it time for a minivan?

[Dan Druff]

BTW, unrelated, but I am hearing that new car sales are trending toward a no-haggle model, and we might see the end of being able to negotiate in the coming years.

That would suck.

This is likely because of the internet, making both invoice price easily available and the existence of tools which allow you to submit your requests to several dealers at once and see who gives the best price.

Those tools aren't the best way to do it, but still, it's cutting into the bottom line big time compared to the pre-internet days.

truecar.com

tells you how much people are paying for a given car nationally and locally. will then compare local dealers to those averages and show you which ones are selling the it the cheapest. you print out a thing and they honor the price.

That's what I was referring to.

But it's only good for people who suck at negotiating.

The "cheapest" price is still a standard price that the dealer is happy to give you. (Admittedly it's still better than the price the average buyer gets.)

If you call around and do enough Jewish haggling, you can usually get invoice price or better.